The art of trolling Rapalas

[Capt. Hook]

Tomorrow we are going to run a tangle free 9 lure Rapala Spread. This will be a first for me

Shot Gun - X Rap Xtreme
Outside Riggers - X Rap Xtremes x2
Inside Riggers - X Rap Xtremes x2
On Scotty's straight out the side - X-Rap 30s x2
Gunnels - X-Rap 40s x2

[Capt. Hook]

9 Rapala's trolled perfectly with 5 off the riggers, sea was big and close and still no problem, no tangles. No Tuna but we hooked 8 Sarda Sarda of the Xtremes run in the clear water off the riggers and shotgun and 4 Bonnies off the X Rap 30s and 40s run off the gunnels.
Tried different speeds, got hook ups on the Xtremes at 10knots, 8knots, 6knots and 3Knots, all positions produced a fish.

Had an interesting thing happen, one Sarda took one lure and then when being fought it hit another lure that it passed clean out the water and got hooked in mid air and so ended up hooked with 2 lures. Only had Dorado do stuff like this before.

[Capt. Hook]

I have been told that the Xtremes will be available at tackle shops from end September early October. I do not know pricing.

[Capt. Hook]

Xtremes starting to produce

[dugong]

I have been told that the Xtremes will be available at tackle shops from end September early October. I do not know pricing.

R335.00 at Kingfisher ..........(less BF 20%) Just need to pull it now!!

[Capt. Hook]

Very nice. Hope you got the red and white one as I been getting good fish on that 

[Shaun17]

I have been told that the Xtremes will be available at tackle shops from end September early October. I do not know pricing.

R335.00 at Kingfisher ..........(less BF 20%) Just need to pull it now!!

Not so sure about that BF special... they were selling for R299 5 weeks ago!! Mark up to discount down???

[Shaun17]

I have been told that the Xtremes will be available at tackle shops from end September early October. I do not know pricing.

R335.00 at Kingfisher ..........(less BF 20%) Just need to pull it now!!

Not so sure about that BF special... they were selling for R299 5 weeks ago!! Mark up to discount down???

Sorry, that was BM that had them for R299...

[dugong]

Very nice. Hope you got the red and white one as I been getting good fish on that 

I want to test this one first, as long as it stays at 15kts (slowest cruising speed) and I can pull it on lighter 20-25lb tackle I will get another

[Hammer]

GET THEM, they are awesome. As Mike says, the Red Head and the Dorrado colours are awesome.
We had very good results with them in Inhaca.

[Bwana]

They are lovely lures and hard-wearing too. Just a tip to save the lifespan of the lure, change the centre treble to a good quality inline single like the Rockpoint 6/0 to prevent that annoying slicing of the plastic and paintwork by the middle treble. Works like a bomb and still catches fish.

[dugong]

GET THEM, they are awesome. As Mike says, the Red Head and the Dorrado colours are awesome.
We had very good results with them in Inhaca.

Did you try them at speed and on lighter tackle??

[Hammer]

I used them on 30lb and 50lb outfits and pulled them between 8kph and 20kph. I was pulling them on my outriggers as well. They were great

[frikster]

Do you guys use any leaders or wire on them should a toothy take it?


I got my reels spooled with mono, whats the way forward?


Thanks for helping the newbies!

[Rory mundy]

if looking for tuna use a clip strait onto lure if looking for toothy fish i use 15cm of steel trace

[Capt. Hook]

I use a 0.8mm leader, no wire for all species. I tie directly on to the ring on the Rapala using an improved fig 8 knot and no clips

[dugong]

Ok got to test the lure on Friday, pulls fast but cannot pull at 16kts.....but, I need to remove the inline single and try it as it came out of the box(then it might do as it says on the box )
I also could not test it with the rod tip lowered to water level as I was fishing alone and the 30 won't fit in the Scottys........it also won't work on light tackle at 10+ kts as the drag has to be ramped too high at higher speeds
What it can do very well is pull with conas at 8kts......and catch fish I had a triple dolly strike but only landed one - mayhem  
Also got the biggest Kawa I have ever seen, over 10kgs!!

[Capt. Hook]

Ok got to test the lure on Friday, pulls fast but cannot pull at 16kts.....but, I need to remove the inline single and try it as it came out of the box(then it might do as it says on the box )
I also could not test it with the rod tip lowered to water level as I was fishing alone and the 30 won't fit in the Scottys........it also won't work on light tackle at 10+ kts as the drag has to be ramped too high at higher speeds
What it can do very well is pull with conas at 8kts......and catch fish I had a triple dolly strike but only landed one - mayhem  
Also got the biggest Kawa I have ever seen, over 10kgs!!

I am not sure what you call light tackle but on 30lb they do not pull any line on our boat even with drag dropped back, I have not tried on 20lb, and we have run them up to 44km an hour which is over 20 knots.

They most definitely are perfect for running with a spread

[Shaun17]

Xtremes accounted for a number of fish this week at Shelly... But my word the quality of lures and the hooks is terrible. Hooks were rusting the day after first use and now need to be replaced after 2 days of fishing... The lures scuff very easily and are even peeling.

Good lure, but quality is lacking...

[HooknCook]

Agreed Shaun, but sadly the quality of all lures these days is not great. Once you have caught a couple fish on a Speedpro they just dont swim anymore. The Hooks are shocking on most and I have to say Rapala being the worst!!